Radish was born from a simple idea: children grow stronger when they have the right stories and conversations to guide them.

Our story starts in the 1970s with my dad. Working with Health Canada, he created the original Hole in the Fence stories as part of a national anti-drugs education campaign. The goal wasn’t to frighten children with warnings, but to give them practical decision-making tools through relatable characters and everyday dilemmas. The programme was groundbreaking, showing that story and empathy could be powerful weapons against risky behaviour.

In the late 1980s, my mum began her further education journey at the University of Kent. At 45, while raising three young children, she chose to focus her undergraduate research on the original Hole in the Fence programme created by my dad for Health Canada.

She used the materials with me and my friends, exploring how the stories could help children talk about choices, empathy, and compassion. Her work showed that Hole in the Fence had impact far beyond its first life as an anti-drugs campaign, laying the groundwork for her later doctorate on how narrative helps children develop emotional and social skills.

For me, Radish has always been part of our family’s story. In 2004, I centred my undergraduate final project — Teaching Kids with Interaction — on Hole in the Fence. That project earned me a First for the work (though my degree was a 2:1 overall) and convinced me of something my parents had already lived: stories are one of the most effective ways to prepare children for real-world challenges.

Now, as a parent of three, this mission is more urgent than ever. Technology is reshaping childhood — pulling kids toward screens, fuelling comparison, and crowding out real play. Radish is how we respond: combining storybooks, parent–child conversations, and digital tools to help families grow wiser, kinder digital kids.

This isn’t just a product. It’s a passion carried through three generations of research, teaching, and parenting — from a government-backed anti-drugs campaign in the 1970s to today’s movement for digital wellbeing.

Because childhood should be about curiosity, play, and learning how to thrive in a world where technology is part of life — but not the whole of it.